Euro 2020: England and Wales avoid Group of Death

EURO 2020 FINALS DRAW

12 June 2020 - 12 July 2020
 

	GROUP A  Rome Baku		GROUP B Copenhagen St Petersburg		GROUP C  Amsterdam Bucharest		GROUP D London Glasgow
[A1]	TURKEY	[B1]	DENMARK	[C1]	NETHERLANDS	[D1]	ENGLAND
[A2]	ITALY	[B2]	FINLAND	[C2]	UKRAINE	[D2]	CROATIA
[A3]	WALES	[B3]	BELGIUM	[C3]	AUSTRIA	[D3]	PLAYOFF [C]
[A4]	SWITZERLAND	[B4]	RUSSIA	[C4]	PLAYOFF [D]	[D4]	CZECH REP
			GROUP E  Bilbao Dublin		GROUP F Munich Budapest
		[E1]	SPAIN	[F1]	PLAYOFF [A]
		[E2]	SWEDEN	[F2]	PORTUGAL
		[E3]	POLAND	[F3]	FRANCE
		[E4]	PLAYOFF [B]	[F4]	GERMANY

SEEDING POTS
Teams were seeded based upon their performance during the Euro 2020 qualifiers

Pot (1) Belgium, Italy, England, Germany, Spain, Ukraine
Pot (2) France, Poland, Switzerland, Croatia, Netherlands, Russia
Pot (3) Portugal, Turkey, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Czech Republic
Pot (4) Wales, Finland, four playoff winners

ENGLAND and Wales were both given seemingly manageable tasks at the Euro 2020 finals next summer after the draw was made in Bucharest last night.

The Three Lions will meet some familiar foes in Group D, most notably a Croatia outfit who they lost against in the 2018 World Cup semi finals but then beat last year in group stage of the inaugural Nations League competition.

Gareth Southgate's men will also face the Czech Republic - who they played twice in qualifying with mixed results - and the winner of Playoff Path [C] which could set up a Battle of Britain clash against Scotland.

England are one of 12 tournament hosts - spread across the width of the continent - with groups having already been allocated to each host nation.

That means if the Scots make it through the playoffs at the expense of Israel and either Norway or Serbia away in late-March, the Tartan Army would also get to watch their own team in two of their three games at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

But, having qualified directly rather than through the playoffs, England will have home advantage in any match between the pair.

Reacting to the draw, Three Lions head coach Southgate said: "I'm never sure whether it's a good draw. We have played two of the teams before and for us to play at Wembley is something special. We are looking forward to the tournament.

"We have to accept that expectations have changed from where we were. We are very critical of ourselves. We would rather be a team that are fancied than a team with no chance."

Wales - who, memorably, reached the last four at Euro 2016 in France - were drawn into Group A, which is headlined by Italy, with matches in the section to be held in Rome as well as Baku in Azerbaijan.

Along with the resurgent Azzurri, the Welsh will also come up against Switzerland and Turkey, neither of whom could exactly be considered as giants on the world stage.

Both did win their qualifying groups, though - and Turkey impressively finished above France - but it could have easily been worse for Ryan Giggs and his fledgling Dragons.

Giggs said: "Logistically looking at it, it's Baku, Baku, Rome, rather than having Rome in the middle - so for the fans it's much better.

"Switzerland are a good team, talented. Turkey were in a group with France and Iceland so have done well to come through that - and Italy have won every game so that will be tough.

"I'll get around and watch the players as much as I can. You hope that, come June, you have a group of healthy players to choose from and if we have that, we're a match for anyone.

"We want to take our chance, just like in 2016."

Of course, Northern Ireland were also in the finals four years ago - and reached the Last 16 before being beaten by the Welsh.

This time, Northern Ireland - like Scotland - will have to navigate their way through the playoffs if they are going to make it into the finals.

Playoff Path [B] firstly takes the Northern Irish to Bosnia-Herzegovina - although, if they win in Sarajevo, they will have home advantage for the final against Slovakia or Ireland.

Meanwhile, Ireland - as one of the host nations - have the additional motivation of knowing they will play two Group E finals games in Dublin if they make it through themselves.

Three-time champions Spain head that section with Sweden and Poland rounding it off.

Elsewhere, the intricacies of the tournament resulted in Group B having been almost completely decided ahead of the draw.

Hosts Denmark and Russia qualified directly and were automatically assigned to the group, of course - while Belgium, as one of only two top seeds without hosting rights, also had no option other than to join them.

That is because Ukraine were the only other non-host among the top seeds - and, for political reasons, the Ukrainians cannot be put into the same section as Russia.

Facing two away games is not something with which the world number one-ranked Belgians were particularly happy - and midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has not been shy about expressing his feelings on the matter.

“It’s a disgrace," he told HLN Sport in Belgium. "For me this feels like competition distortion, a fake competition.

"Football is not really football any more, it's becoming a business."

Nevertheless, the allocation of major finals debutants Finland to the same group will surely go some way to softening the blow suffered by the Belgians.

Meanwhile, Ukraine were instead allocated to Group C - alongside the Netherlands, Austria, and the winner of the lowest-ranked playoff route.

Playoff Path [D] features Georgia versus Belarus and North Macedonia versus Kosovo - with one of those four going on to make it to a finals tournament for the first time.

It would be fair to suggest that the group as a whole does not look like the toughest exercise for the Dutch.

However, the same cannot be said of Group F - and, after much concern that England could get both the current world champions France from pot two and defending European champions Portugal from pot three, the pair were perhaps inevitably drawn together.

Instead, though, they landed in the section headed by Germany in what can only be termed a Group of Death.

At least it would have been in past championships - but, as in Euro 2016, four third-placed teams join the top two from each group in the Last 16 of the competition for the start of the knockout stages.

Therefore, it seems more likely that the Germans, French and Portuguese will all make it through in some shape or form, rather than any of them heading for an early exit.

Rather bizarrely, the foibles of this mis-shapen tournament do not end with the group stage draw - as the path into the latter stages has already been mapped out.

The winners of Group D involving England will take on the runners-up from that top-heavy Group F in Dublin for a place in the quarter finals.

Could it be better then to finish runners-up in Group D and instead run into the runners-up of Group E, most likely Sweden or Poland in Copenhagen?

Either way, if England progress through the group stage, they will head off to neutral territory for the Last 16 - while the hosts of the quarter finals will be Munich, Saint Petersburg, Rome, and Baku.

Of course, both semi finals and the Final itself on 12 July will be hosted back at Wembley - but let us not get too far ahead of ourselves.

After all, not even the full line-up of teams has yet to be decided.

GROUP A

12-June	(8pm)	TURKEY v ITALY	Rome
13-June	(2pm)	WALES v SWITZERLAND	Baku
17-June	(5pm)	TURKEY v WALES	Baku
17-June	(8pm)	ITALY v SWITZERLAND	Rome
21-June	(5pm)	SWITZERLAND v TURKEY	Baku
21-June	(5pm)	ITALY v WALES	Rome

GROUP B

13-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v FINLAND	Copenhagen
13-June	(8pm)	BELGIUM v RUSSIA	Saint Petersburg
17-June	(2pm)	FINLAND v RUSSIA	Saint Petersburg
18-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v BELGIUM	Copenhagen
22-June	(8pm)	RUSSIA v DENMARK	Copenhagen
22-June	(8pm)	FINLAND v BELGIUM	Saint Petersburg

GROUP C

14-June	(5pm)	AUSTRIA v PLAYOFF [D]	Bucharest
14-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v UKRAINE	Amsterdam
18-June	(2pm)	UKRAINE v PLAYOFF [D]	Bucharest
18-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIA	Amsterdam
22-June	(5pm)	PLAYOFF [D] v NETHERLANDS	Amsterdam
22-June	(5pm)	UKRAINE v AUSTRIA	Bucharest

GROUP D

14-June	(2pm)	ENGLAND v CROATIA	London
15-June	(2pm)	PLAYOFF [C] v CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
19-June	(5pm)	CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
19-June	(8pm)	ENGLAND v PLAYOFF [C]	London
23-June	(8pm)	CROATIA v PLAYOFF [C]	Glasgow
23-June	(8pm)	CZECH REPUBLIC v ENGLAND	London

GROUP E

15-June	(5pm)	POLAND v PLAYOFF [B]	Dublin
15-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v SWEDEN	Bilbao
19-June	(2pm)	SWEDEN v PLAYOFF [B]	Dublin
20-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v POLAND	Bilbao
24-June	(5pm)	PLAYOFF [B] v SPAIN	Bilbao
24-June	(5pm)	SWEDEN v POLAND	Dublin

GROUP F

16-June	(5pm)	PLAYOFF [A] v PORTUGAL	Budapest
16-June	(8pm)	FRANCE v GERMANY	Munich
20-June	(2pm)	PLAYOFF [A] v FRANCE	Budapest
20-June	(5pm)	PORTUGAL v GERMANY	Munich
24-June	(8pm)	PORTUGAL v FRANCE	Budapest
24-June	(8pm)	GERMANY v PLAYOFF [A]	Munich

LAST 16

27-June	(5pm)	[38]  RUNNER-UP A v RUNNER-UP B	Amsterdam
27-June	(8pm)	[37]  WINNER A v RUNNER-UP C	London
28-June	(5pm)	[40]  WINNER C v THIRD PLACE D/E/F	Budapest
28-June	(8pm)	[39]  WINNER B v THIRD PLACE A/D/E/F	Bilbao
29-June	(5pm)	[42]  RUNNER-UP D v RUNNER-UP E	Copenhagen
29-June	(8pm)	[41]  WINNER F v THIRD PLACE A/B/C	Bucharest
30-June	(5pm)	[44]  WINNER D v RUNNER-UP F	Dublin
30-June	(8pm)	[43]  WINNER E v THIRD PLACE A/B/C/D	Glasgow

QUARTER FINALS

03-July	(5pm)	(45)  WINNER [41] v WINNER [42]	Saint Petersburg
03-July	(8pm)	(46)  WINNER [39] v WINNER [37]	Munich
04-July	(5pm)	(47)  WINNER [40] v WINNER [38]	Baku
04-July	(8pm)	(48)  WINNER [43] v WINNER [44]	Rome

SEMI FINALS

07-July	(8pm)	WINNER (46) v WINNER (45)	London
08-July	(8pm)	WINNER (48) v WINNER (47)	London

PLAYOFF DRAW
The home team in each of the one-off semi finals was decided on the basis of the respective teams' Nations League ranking. The venues of the four one-off finals in each Path were determined by a draw held on 22 November.

Path
[A]	Semi finals ICELAND v ROMANIA BULGARIA v HUNGARY Final BULGARIA or HUNGARY v ICELAND or ROMANIA	Group F
[B]	Semi finals BOSNIA-HERZ v N IRELAND SLOVAKIA v IRELAND Final BOSNIA-HERZ or N IRELAND v SLOVAKIA or IRELAND	Group E
[C]	Semi finals SCOTLAND v ISRAEL NORWAY v SERBIA Final NORWAY or SERBIA v SCOTLAND or ISRAEL	Group D
[D]	Semi finals GEORGIA v BELARUS N MACEDONIA v KOSOVO Final GEORGIA or BELARUS v N MACEDONIA or KOSOVO	Group C

Kane treble leaves England feeling grand

(Q) EURO 2020 QUALIFIERS (Q)
AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ENGLAND, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, NETHERLANDS, POLAND, PORTUGAL, RUSSIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY, UKRAINE, WALES

ENGLAND marked their 1000th international with a thumping 7-0 win over Montenegro which sealed a place at the Euro 2020 finals in the summer.

Harry Kane scored a first-half hat-trick to take his international goal tally to 31, a total which takes him past the likes of Nat Lofthouse, Tom Finney and Alan Shearer into sixth place on the all-time scorers list.

By the time Kane got his first two, both through unmarked headers from corners, the Three Lions were already 1-0 up through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's opener.

It was the Liverpool midfielder's first goal for the national team in more than two injury-ravaged years as he killed a pass from Ben Chilwell before firing past the helpless Milan Mijatović.

Chilwell, the in-form Leicester City left-back, in fact set up each of the first three as Kane gorged on his set-piece delivery and it quickly became apparent that Montenegro were going to be no match for a vibrant England.

At the interval, it was 5-0 as Marcus Rashford got himself on the scoresheet with a rasping shot before Kane completed his treble after turning his marker inside-out.

Inevitably perhaps, the second half did not provide anything like the same sort of fare for the 77,277 in attendance at Wembley.

But, still, there were two more goals to savour - although the first of those was merely the predictably comic culmination of an own goal following a bit of pinball in the Montenegrin box.

Finally, Kane's replacement, young Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, completed the scoring with his first senior international goal - and, as such, became the 430th player to score for the Three Lions.

England were in seventh heaven as they recorded their biggest home win in 32 years to qualify with a match to spare.

Indeed, except for problems at centre-back following the poor defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague, the main worries during this campaign have come away from the field of play.

Racism reared its ugly head in the visits to Montenegro and, particularly notably, Bulgaria - while the build-up to this match focused mainly on the fall-out from the scuffle between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez.

Deemed the instigator, Sterling was dropped from the matchday squad while Gomez retained his place and was introduced from the bench for the last 20 minutes.

Sadly, and somewhat bizarrely, the Liverpool defender was welcomed onto the pitch by a chorus of boos from some sections of the crowd, prompting post-match condemnation from head coach Gareth Southgate as well as Sterling on social media.

Outwith that rather sour note, though, this was another night for Southgate and England to cherish as they became one of the 20 teams to make it through to Euro 2020 so far.

In truth, none of the big guns have struggled in this kindly qualifying process in which two teams progress directly from each group.

World number one-ranked Belgium made it through as early as last month and so did Italy, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and Spain.

Now, as well as England, a further 13 teams have qualified this week - namely Turkey, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Croatia, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, Wales and, for the first time ever, Finland.

A further four slots will not be confirmed until the playoffs in late March - and this is where it can get a bit complicated.

EURO 2020 QUALIFYING GROUPS

The 55 teams were drawn into five groups of five teams (A-E), and five groups of six teams (F-J). The top two teams in each group qualified for the finals.

	GROUP A	Pts		GROUP B	Pts		GROUP C	Pts
(Q)	ENGLAND	21	(Q)	UKRAINE	20	(Q)	GERMANY	21
(Q)	CZECH REP	15	(Q)	PORTUGAL	17	(Q)	NETHERLANDS	19
[D]	KOSOVO	11	[C]	SERBIA	14	[B]	N IRELAND	13
[A]	BULGARIA	6	4	Luxembourg	4	[D]	BELARUS	4
5	Montenegro	3	5	Lithuania	1	5	Estonia	1
	GROUP D	Pts		GROUP E	Pts		GROUP F	Pts
(Q)	SWITZERLAND	17	(Q)	CROATIA	17	(Q)	SPAIN	26
(Q)	DENMARK	16	(Q)	WALES	14	(Q)	SWEDEN	21
[B]	IRELAND	13	[D]	SLOVAKIA	13	[C]	NORWAY	17
[D]	GEORGIA	8	[A]	HUNGARY	12	[A]	ROMANIA	14
5	Gibraltar	0	5	Azerbaijan	1	5	Faroe Islands	3
						6	Malta	3
	GROUP G	Pts		GROUP H	Pts		GROUP I	Pts
(Q)	POLAND	25	(Q)	FRANCE	25	(Q)	BELGIUM	30
(Q)	AUSTRIA	19	(Q)	TURKEY	23	(Q)	RUSSIA	24
[D]	N MACEDONIA	14	[A]	ICELAND	19	[C]	SCOTLAND	15
4	Slovenia	14	4	Albania	13	4	Cyprus	10
[C]	ISRAEL	11	5	Andorra	4	5	Kazakhstan	10
6	Latvia	3	6	Moldova	3	6	San Marino	0
	GROUP J	Pts
(Q)	ITALY	30
(Q)	FINLAND	18
3	Greece	14
[B]	BOSNIA-HERZ	13
5	Armenia	10
6	Liechtenstein	2

NATIONS LEAGUE STANDINGS

The final standings in the 2018-2019 Nations League determined the 16 teams who will compete in the Euro 2020 playoffs in March, as follows:

1. All available group winners were selected.
2. If a group winner had already qualified through the Euro 2020 qualifying group stage (as above), they were replaced by the next best-ranked team from the same league which had not also already qualified.
3. If fewer than four teams from a given league had failed to qualify, then the remaining spaces for that league were allocated by the overall ranking:
   (a) if the league had a group winner* selected for the play-offs, the next best team in the overall ranking from a lower league was selected
   (b) if the league had no group winner available, the best team in the overall ranking was selected.

	LEAGUE A		LEAGUE B		LEAGUE C		LEAGUE D
(Q)	PORTUGAL	[B]	BOSNIA-HERZ	[C]	SCOTLAND	[D]	GEORGIA
(Q)	NETHERLANDS	(Q)	UKRAINE	[C]	NORWAY	[D]	N MACEDONIA
(Q)	ENGLAND	(Q)	DENMARK	[C]	SERBIA	[D]	KOSOVO
(Q)	SWITZERLAND	(Q)	SWEDEN	(Q)	FINLAND	[D]	BELARUS
(Q)	BELGIUM	(Q)	RUSSIA	[A]	BULGARIA	44	Luxembourg
(Q)	FRANCE	(Q)	AUSTRIA	[C]	ISRAEL	45	Armenia
(Q)	SPAIN	(Q)	WALES	[A]	HUNGARY	46	Azerbaijan
(Q)	ITALY	(Q)	CZECH REP	[A]	ROMANIA	47	Kazakhstan
(Q)	CROATIA	[B]	SLOVAKIA	33	Greece	48	Moldova
(Q)	POLAND	(Q)	TURKEY	34	Albania	49	Gibraltar
(Q)	GERMANY	[B]	IRELAND	35	Montenegro	50	Faroe Islands
[A]	ICELAND	[B]	N IRELAND	36	Cyprus	51	Latvia
				37	Estonia	52	Liechtenstein
				38	Slovenia	53	Andorra
				39	Lithuania	54	Malta
						55	San Marino

*Note The top four teams in each league as listed above won their Nations League group

Remember the Nations League? Well, the performance of teams in their respective league divisions are the key to their qualifying prospects.

League D is simple enough to understand. None of the Nations League group winners - Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo or Belarus - were able to qualify through their respective groups and so they will all feature in the playoffs with the winner of their 'path' going on to progress to the finals.

It is largely the same story in League C with Scotland, Norway and Serbia all failing to make it through to the finals in their qualifying groups.

Finland did make it through, however - so their place will be taken by Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary or Romania as determined by a draw on Friday.

In League B, Bosnia-Herzegovina were the only Nations League winners needing to fall back on the playoffs but the remaining places will be filled by the three spare teams from the same division - Slovakia, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Unsurprisingly, it was all rather different among the big guns of League A with only Iceland finishing outside of the top two of their group.

That, in itself, is something which is perhaps not so much of a shock given previously they were punching well above their weight.

But system has still come to the benefit of the Icelanders - for, as the only League A team, the three vacant places in their divisional playoff path have been back-filled by the remaining unallocated teams from down in League C.

Meanwhile, the finals draw on 30 November in Bucharest is still more convoluted again.

There are no fewer than 12 host cities, all in different countries, with seven of those having qualified while another three may yet make it through via the playoffs.

The complication comes from the fact that the host nations will stage at least two and possibly three of their own countries' group matches in the finals, based upon performance in the qualifiers.

Hosts have already been allocated groups in line with this - and, as such, England already know that they will be at Wembley for their three Group D matches.

Meanwhile, Scotland - if they make it through the back door - will get two home games in the same section, but they will play England in London.

In Groups A, C, E and F, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Germany will get three home games in Rome, Amsterdam, Bilbao and Munich respectively.

Otherwise, the remaining teams slot in somewhere or other - but, frankly, it has got too complicated even for me!

Regardless of this migraine-inducing format for a tournament, though, England can consider themselves to be in a decent position.

Both semi finals on 7 and 8 July, and the Final on 12 July will be held at Wembley - so, if a young Three Lions team happen to pay out early on their promise, home advantage awaits.

Springboks release shackles to leave England kicking stones

RUGBY WORLD CUP

FINAL

02-November	ENGLAND	12-32	SOUTH AFRICA	Yokohama
09:00	- Farrell (4) - - Elliot Daly Anthony Watson Manu Tuilagi Owen Farrell (c) Jonny May George Ford Ben Youngs Billy Vunipola Sam Underhill Tom Curry Courtney Lawes Maro Itoje Kyle Sinckler Jamie George Mako Vunipola	T P C DG 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1	Mapimpi, Kolbe Pollard (6) Pollard (2) - Willie le Roux Cheslin Kolbe Lukhanyo Am Damian de Allende Makazole Mapimpi  Handré Pollard Faf de Klerk Duane Vermeulen Pieter-Steph du Toit Siya Kolisi (c) Lood de Jager Eben Etzebeth Frans Malherbe Bongi Mbonambi Tendai Mtawarira

ENGLAND replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie 17 Joe Marler 18 Dan Cole 19 George Kruis 20 Mark Wilson 21 Ben Spencer 22 Henry Slade 23 Jonathan Joseph

SOUTH AFRICA replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx 17 Steven Kitschoff 18 Vincent Koch 19 RG Snyman 20 Franco Mostert 21 Francois Louw, 22 Herschel Jantjies 23 François Steyn

Referee Jérôme Garcès (France)  Attendance 70,103

SOUTH AFRICA won the Rugby World Cup for a record-equalling third time after second half tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe buried English hopes in Yokohama.

The Springboks eventually prevailed by an emphatic margin of 20 points as error-strewn England came nowhere near to the heights which they reached when by beating New Zealand in the semis at the same venue seven days earlier.

If anything, this Final chapter from England was the complete antithesis of what had gone before with basic mistakes blotting their copybook from the opening minutes of the match.

After just eight minutes, England conceded a penalty inside their own 22 as Billy Vunipola's pass went to ground and left captain Owen Farrell in an isolated position. Then, two minutes later, Ben Youngs threw a wild pass over Anthony Watson's head into touch.

Another poor pass from scrum-half Youngs soon followed as George Ford was forced to kick hurriedly and went out on the full.

Yet South Africa struggled to get away from England - and so, while the Springboks led 12-6 at half time, the Final had pretty much descended into a kick-fest courtesy of the near faultless skills of Handre Pollard and Owen Farrell.

Indeed, the best concerted spell of pressure in the first 40 minutes came from England as a 26-phase attack, which seemed to spend an eternity on the try line, ultimately ended with just three points from Farrell in front of the posts.

That was a moral victory for the Boks - and twice they stretched their interval lead of six points out to nine to leave England more than a converted score behind.

England responded on both occasions - and, at 18-12, it looked for all the world that a single try would win the game.

So, on 66 minutes, it felt as if the killer blow had been delivered when Mapimpi kicked on, Lukhanyo Am gathered, and then set up Mapimpi who went over for a first ever South African try in a World Cup Final.

Despite that fact, of course, the Springboks had won the William Webb Ellis Cup on both of their previous two appearances in this marquee event - mainly because they had also prevented New Zealand in 1995 and England in 2007 from scoring a try.

The Springboks would soon make it three out of three on both counts as, with just six minutes left, diminutive winger Kolbe confirmed victory by running through an exhausted England defence.

It is a moment to cherish for South Africa - not just as a rugby team but as a nation, in the way that the first triumph in 1995 was celebrated.

Siya Kolisi has joined Francois Pienaar and John Smit in the pantheon of Springboks champions, an unthinkable feat at the time that Kolisi was born on 16 June 1991.

Notably, that was just one day before apartheid legislation was repealed by the South African Parliament.

And this fresh victory must surely reignite the hope which had burned so brightly in 1995 when, in iconic scenes, then-President Nelson Mandela handed the Webb Ellis Cup to Pienaar at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the decades-long struggle against the racist, repressive regime in the country, said the Springboks had restored “a self-doubting nation’s belief”.

So it was not as if South Africa merely deserved victory over England in Yokohama - but even perhaps that they needed it.

By contrast, this is a tough result for English rugby to take. On reflection, though, there has been some fine recent progress by this young team under Australian coach Eddie Jones.

Certainly, this adventure in Japan was better than a repeat of their embarrassing Pool stage exit at their own World Cup four years ago.

But, equally, it will be understandable - after such a tough blow - if the frustration of failure at the final hurdle hangs over the team like a dark cloud for a while.

"I'm not sure why we came up short, sometimes you never know," said the England head coach Jones.

"Sometimes you can investigate but you'll never know why it happened. We're going to be kicking stones now for four years, we're massively disappointed."

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH

02-Nov	NEW ZEALAND	40-17	WALES	Tokyo
09:00	Moody, B Barrett, B Smith (2), Crotty Mo'unga - Mo'unga (5) -	T P C DG	Amos, Adams Patchell Patchell, Biggar -

SEMI FINAL FIXTURES

26-Oct	ENGLAND	19-7	NEW ZEALAND	Yokohama
09:00	Tuilagi Ford (4) Farrell -	T P C DG	Savea - Mo'unga -
27-Oct	WALES	16-19	SOUTH AFRICA	Yokohama
09:00	Adams Biggar (3) Halfpenny -	T P C DG	De Allende Pollard (4) Pollard -

QUARTER FINALS FIXTURES

19-Oct	ENGLAND	40-16	AUSTRALIA	Oita
08:15	May (2), Sinckler, Watson Farrell (4) Farrell (4) -	T P C DG	Koroibete Lealiifano Lealiifano -
19-Oct	NEW ZEALAND	46-14	IRELAND	Tokyo
11:15	A Smith (2), B Barrett, Taylor, Todd Bridge, Barrett Mo'unga Mo'unga (4) -	T P C DG	Henshaw, penalty - Carbery -
20-Oct	WALES	20-19	FRANCE	Oita
08:15	Wainwright, Moriarty Biggar (2) Biggar (2) -	T P C DG	Vahaamahina, Ollivon, Vakatawa - Ntamack (2) -
20-Oct	JAPAN	3-26	SOUTH AFRICA	Tokyo
11:15	- Tamura - -	T P C DG	Mapimpi (2), De Klerk Pollard (3) Pollard -

POOL STAGE RESULTS AND STATISTICS

POOL A Japan and Ireland qualify for the Quarter Finals

	W	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
(Q) JAPAN	4	0	115	62	13	19
(Q) IRELAND	3	1	121	27	18	16
SCOTLAND	2	2	119	55	16	11
SAMOA	1	3	58	128	8	5
RUSSIA	0	4	19	160	1	0

20-Sep	JAPAN	30-10	RUSSIA	Tokyo
11:45	Matsushima (3), Labuschagne Tamura (2) Tamura, Matsuda -	T P C DG	Golosnitsky  Kushnarev  Kushnarev -
22-Sep	IRELAND	27-3	SCOTLAND	Yokohama
08:45	Ryan, Best, Furlong Carty Sexton, Murray -	T P C DG	- Laidlaw - -
24-Sep	RUSSIA	9-34	SAMOA	Kumagaya
11:15	- Kushnarev (2) - Kushnarev	T P C DG	Leiua (2), Amosa, Fidow (2), Lee-Lo - Pisi (2) -
28-Sep	JAPAN	19-12	IRELAND	Shizuoka
08:15	Fukuoka Tamura (4) Tamura -	T P C DG	Ringrose, R Kearney - Carty -
30-Sep	SCOTLAND	34-0	SAMOA	Kobe
11:15	Maitland, Laidlaw, penalty (2) Laidlaw Laidlaw (2) Hogg	T P C DG	- - - -
03-Oct	IRELAND	35-0	RUSSIA	Kobe
11:15	Kearney, O'Mahony, Ruddock, Conway Ringrose - Sexton (3), Carty (2) -	T P C DG	- - - -
05-Oct	JAPAN	38-19	SAMOA	Toyota
11:30	Lafaele, Himeno, Fukuoka, Matsushima Tamura (4) Tamura (3) -	T P C DG	Taefu Taefu (4) Taefu -
09-Oct	SCOTLAND	61-0	RUSSIA	Shizuoka
08:15	Hastings (2), G Horne (3), Turner Seymour, Barclay, McInally - Hastings (8) -	T P C DG	- - - -
12-Oct	IRELAND	47-5	SAMOA	Fukuoka
11:45	Best, Furlong, Sexton (2), Larmour Stander, Conway - Sexton (4), Carbery (2) -	T P C DG	J Lam - - -
13-Oct	JAPAN	28-21	SCOTLAND	Yokohama
11:45	Matsushima, Inagaki, Fukuoka (2) - Tamura (4) -	T P C DG	Russell, Nel, Fagerson - Laidlaw (2), Russell -

POOL B New Zealand and South Africa qualify for the Quarter Finals

	W	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
(Q) NEW ZEALAND	3	0	157	22	22	16
(Q) SOUTH AFRICA	3	1	185	36	27	15
ITALY	2	1	98	78	14	12
NAMIBIA	0	3	34	175	3	2
CANADA	0	3	14	177	2	2

21-Sep	NEW ZEALAND	23-13	SOUTH AFRICA	Yokohama
10:45	Bridge, Barrett Mo'unga (2), Barrett Mo'unga (2) -	T P C DG	Du Toit Pollard Pollard Pollard
22-Sep	ITALY	47-22	NAMIBIA	Higashiosaka
06:15	Penalty, Allan, Tebaldi, Padovani, Canna Poledri, Minozzi - Allan (3), Canna (2) -	T P C DG	Stevens, Greyling, Plato Loubser Loubser (2) -
26-Sep	ITALY	48-7	CANADA	Fukuoka
08:45	Steyn, Budd, Negri, penalty, Bellini, Zani Minozzi Allan Allan (3), Canna -	T P C DG	Coe - Nelson -
28-Sep	SOUTH AFRICA	57-3	NAMIBIA	Toyota
10:45	Mbonambi (2), Louw, Mapimpi (2), Am Gelant, Kolisi, Brits - E Jantjies (6) -	T P C DG	- Loubser - -
02-Oct	NEW ZEALAND	63-0	CANADA	Oita
11:15	J Barrett, Williams, B Barrett, Ioane S Barrett, Frizell, Weber (2), penalty - Mo'unga (8) -	T P C DG	- - - -
04-Oct	SOUTH AFRICA	47-3	ITALY	Shizuoka
10:45	Kolbe (2), Mbonambi, Am, Mapimpi, Snyman, Marx Pollard (2) Pollard (4) -	T P C DG	- Allan - -
06-Oct	NEW ZEALAND	71-9	NAMIBIA	Tokyo
05:45	Reece (2), Lienert-Brown (2), Ta'avao B Smith (2), Moody, Whitelock J Barrett, Perenara - Barrett (8) -	T   P C DG	- Stevens (3) - -
08-Oct	SOUTH AFRICA	66-7	CANADA	Kobe
11:15	de Allende, Nkosi, Reinach (3), Gelant Steyn, Brits, Willemse, Malherbe - Jantjies (8) -	T P C DG	Heaton - Nelson -
12-Oct	NEW ZEALAND	C-C	ITALY	Toyota
05:45	Cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis
13-Oct	NAMIBIA	C-C	CANADA	Kamaishi
04:15	Cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis

POOL C England and France qualify for the Quarter Finals

	W	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
(Q) ENGLAND	3	0	119	20	17	17
(Q) FRANCE	3	0	79	51	9	15
ARGENTINA	2	2	106	91	14	11
TONGA	1	3	67	105	9	6
UNITED STATES	0	4	52	156	7	0

21-Sep	FRANCE	23-21	ARGENTINA	Tokyo
08:15	Fickou, Dupont Ntamack (2) Ntamack (2) Lopez	T P C DG	Petti, Montoya Sanchez, Urdapilleta (2) Sanchez -
22-Sep	ENGLAND	35-3	TONGA	Sapporo
11:15	Tuilagi (2), George, Cowan-Dickie Farrell (3) Farrell (3) -	T P C DG	- - Takulua -
26-Sep	ENGLAND	45-7	UNITED STATES	Kobe
11:45	Cokanasiga (2), Ford, Vunipola Cowan-Dickie, McConnochie, Ludlam - Ford (5) -	T P C DG	Campbell - MacGinty -
28-Sep	ARGENTINA	28-12	TONGA	Higashiosaka
05:45	Montoya (3), Carreras - Urdapilleta (4)  -	T P C DG	Veainu (2) - Takulua -
02-Oct	FRANCE	33-9	UNITED STATES	Fukuoka
08:45	Huget, Raka, Fickou, Serin, Poirot  - Ramos, Lopez (3) -	T P C DG	- MacGinty (3) - -
05-Oct	ENGLAND	39-10	ARGENTINA	Tokyo
09:00	May, Daly, B Youngs, Ford, Nowell Cowan-Dickie Farrell Farrell (3) -	T P C DG	Moroni Urdapilleta Boffelli -
06-Oct	FRANCE	23-21	TONGA	Kumamoto
08:45	Vakatawa, Raka Ntamack (3) Ntamack (2) -	T P C DG	Takulua, Hingano, Kapeli - Takulua (2), Fosita -
09-Oct	ARGENTINA	47-17	UNITED STATES	Kumagaya
05:45	Sanchez, Tuculet (2), Mallia (2) De La Fuente, Bertranou - Sanchez (5), Urdapilleta -	T P C DG	Scully (2), Lasike - MacGinty -
12-Oct	ENGLAND	C-C	FRANCE	Yokohama
09:15	Cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis
13-Oct	UNITED STATES	19-31	TONGA	Higashiosaka
06:45	Te'o (2), Lamborn - MacGinty (2) -	T P C DG	Fisiihoi, Hingano, Piutau, Veainu Takulua Takulua (2), Faiva, Piutau -

POOL D Wales and Australia qualify for the Quarter Finals

	W	L	F	A	Tries	Pts
(Q) WALES	4	0	136	69	17	19
(Q) AUSTRALIA	3	1	136	68	20	16
FIJI	1	3	110	108	17	7
GEORGIA	1	3	65	122	9	5
URUGUAY	1	3	60	140	6	4

21-Sep	AUSTRALIA	39-21	FIJI	Sapporo
05:45	Hooper, Hodge, Latu (2), Kerevi, Koroibete Hodge Lealiifano, Tommua (2) -	T P C DG	Yato, Nayacalevu Volavola (3) Volavola -
23-Sep	WALES	43-14	GEORGIA	Toyota
11:15	J Davies, Tipuric, Adams, L Williams T Williams, North Biggar Biggar (4), Halfpenny -	T P C DG	Mamukashvili, Chilachava   - Abzhandadze (2) -
25-Sep	FIJI	27-30	URUGUAY	Kamaishi
06:15	Dolokoto, Mawi, Ratuniyarawa, Matuwala (2) - Matavesi -	T P C DG	Arata, Diana, Cat Berchesi (3) Berchesi (3) -
29-Sep	GEORIA	33-7	URUGUAY	Kumagaya
06:15	Todua, Giorgadze, Chilachava, Bregvadze Kveseladze - Abzhandadze (4) -	T P C DG	Vilaseca - Berchesi -
29-Sep	AUSTRALIA	25-29	WALES	Tokyo
08:45	Ashley-Cooper, Haylett-Petty, Hooper Foley, Toomua Toomua (2) -	T P C DG	Parkes, G Davies Patchell (3) Patchell, Biggar Biggar, Patchell
03-Oct	GEORGIA	10-45	FIJI	Higashiosaka
06:15	Gorgodze Matiashvili Matiashvili -	T P C DG	Nayacalevu, Lomani, Tuisova, Radradra (2), Kunatani, Ratuniyarawa - Volavola (5) -
05-Oct	AUSTRALIA	45-10	URUGUAY	Oita
06:15	Haylett-Petty (2), Petaia Kuridrani (2), Genia, Slipper - Lealiifano (5) -	T P C DG	Diana Berchesi Berchesi -
09-Oct	WALES	29-17	FIJI	Oita
10:45	Adams (3), L Williams Patchell Biggar (2), L Williams -	T P C DG	Tuisova, Murimurivalu, penalty - - -
11-Oct	AUSTRALIA	27-8	GEORGIA	Fukuroi
11:15	White, Koroibete, Dempsey, Genia Toomua Toomua  (2) -	T P C DG	Todua Matiashvili - -
13-Oct	WALES	35-13	URUGUAY	Kumamoto
09:15	Smith, Adams, penalty, T Williams G Davies - Halfpenny (4) -	T P C DG	Kessler Berchesi (2) Berchesi -

TOP POINTS SCORERS
69 Handré Pollard (South Africa) 
58 Owen Farrell (England) 
54 Richie Mo'unga (New Zealand) 
51 Yu Tamura (Japan) 
41 Dan Biggar (Wales)
35 Josh Adams (Wales) 
32 George Ford (England)
31 Jordie Barrett (New Zealand)
30 Felipe Berchesi (Uruguay), Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa)
28 Elton Janjies (South Africa)
27 Romain Ntamack (France)
26 Adam Hastings (Scotland), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
25 Kotaro Matsushima (Japan)
24 Rhys Patchell (Wales)
23 Tommaso Allan (Italy), Christian Lealiifano (Australia)
21 Ben Volavola (Fiji), Sonatane Takulua (Tonga) 
20 Julián Montoya (Argentina), Nicolás Sánchez (Argentina), Kenki Fukuoka (Japan), Ben Smith (New Zealand)

TOP TRY SCORERS
7 Josh Adams (Wales)
6 Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa)
5 Kotaro Matsushima (Japan)
4 Julián Montoya (Argentina), Kenki Fukuoka (Japan), Ben Smith (New Zealand)
3 Dane Haylett-Petty (Australia), George Horne (Scotland), Bongi Mbonambi (South Africa), Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Cobus Reinach (South Africa), Andrew Conway (Ireland), Telusa Veainu (Tonga), Jonny May (England), Jordie Barrett (New Zealand), Marika Koroibete (Australia), Manu Tuilagi (England), Beauden Barrett (New Zealand), Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa)
2 Juan Cruz Mallia (Argentina), Joaquín Tuculet (Argentina), Will Genia (Australia), Michael Hooper (Australia), Tevita Kuridrani (Australia), Tolu Latu (Australia), Joe Cokanasiga (England), George Ford (England), Niko Matawalu (Fiji), Waisea Nayacalevu (Fiji), Semi Radradra (Fiji), Api Ratuniyarawa (Fiji), Josua Tuisova (Fiji), Gaël Fickou (France), Alivereti Raka (France), Virimi Vakatawa (France), Levan Chilachava (Georgia), Alexander Todua (Georgia), Rory Best (Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Rob Kearney (Ireland), Garry Ringrose (Ireland), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Mattia Bellini (Italy), Matteo Minozzi (Italy), Scott Barrett (New Zealand), George Bridge (New Zealand), Anton Lienert-Brown (New Zealand), Joe Moody (New Zealand), Sevu Reece (New Zealand), Aaron Smith (New Zealand), Brad Weber (New Zealand), Ed Fidow (Samoa), Alapati Leiua (Samoa), Adam Hastings (Scotland), Lukhanyo Am (South Africa), Schalk Brits (South Africa), Damian de Allende (South Africa), Warrick Gelant (South Africa), Mali Hingano (Tonga), Blaine Scully (United States), Mike Te'o (United States), Manuel Diana (Uruguay), Gareth Davies (Wales), Liam Williams (Wales), Tomos Williams (Wales)

RED CARDS
26-Sep John Quill (United States) v England, Pool C
29-Sep Facundo Gattas (Uruguay) v Georgia, Pool D
30-Sep Ed Fidow (Samoa) v Scotland, Pool A
04-Oct Andrea Lovotti (Italy) v South Africa, Pool B
05-Oct Tomás Lavanini (Argentina) v England, Pool C
08-Oct Josh Larsen (Canada) v South Africa, Pool B
12-Oct Bundee Aki (Ireland) v Samoa, Pool A
20-Oct Sébastien Vahaamahina (France) v Wales, Quarter finals

BIGGEST WINS
63 New Zealand 63-0 Canada, Pool B
62 New Zealand 71-9 Namibia, Pool B
61 Scotland 61-0 Russia, Pool A
59 South Africa 66-7 Canada, Pool B
54 South Africa 57-3 Namibia, Pool B
44 South Africa 47-3 Italy, Pool B
42 Ireland 47-5 Samoa, Pool A
41 Italy 48-7 Canada, Pool B
35 Ireland 35-0 Russia, Pool A
35 Fiji 45-10 Georgia, Pool D
35 Australia 45-10 Uruguay, Pool D
34 Scotland 34-0 Samoa, Pool A
32 New Zealand 46-14 Ireland, Quarter finals
32 England 35-3 Tonga, Pool C
30 Argentina 47-17 United States, Pool C

SHUTOUTS
30-Sep Scotland 34-0 Samoa, Pool A
02-Oct New Zealand 63-0 Canada, Pool B
05-Oct Ireland 35-0 Russia, Pool A
09-Oct Scotland 61-0 Russia, Pool A

WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS
Updated 02-November (changes from start of World Cup)

(1)	(+3)	SOUTH AFRICA	94.19
(2)	(-)	NEW ZEALAND	92.11
(3)	(-)	ENGLAND	88.82
(4)	(+1)	WALES	85.02
(5)	(-4)	IRELAND	84.45
(6)	(-)	AUSTRALIA	81.90
(7)	(+1)	FRANCE	80.88
(8)	(+2)	JAPAN	79.28
(9)	(-2)	SCOTLAND	79.23
(10)	(+1)	ARGENTINA	78.31